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Two men indicted for murder in teen’s 1993 Fitchburg slaying
Deondray Atwood, 15, was shot several times while sitting in a parked car with other teens in 1993. Now, two men are facing charges in his death.
More than 30 years after 15-year-old Deondray Atwood was fatally shot in Fitchburg, two men are facing murder charges in the teen’s death.
On Friday, a Worcester County grand jury indicted Robert D’Lucca, 49, and Lawrence Calafell, 51, on one count each of murder in Atwood’s 1993 death, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. announced. Both men also face charges of armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without an FID card.
D’Lucca and Calafell are accused of shooting into a parked car on Daniels Street on Nov. 25, 1993, the DA’s office said. The 17-year-old driver told police two men walked to the back of the car and opened fire, The Boston Globe reported in 1993.
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Atwood and another passenger, a 15-year-old Gardner girl, were reportedly shot a total of 15 times. The girl survived the shooting, and Atwood lingered in a coma for 8 days before he died, according to the Globe. The driver escaped uninjured.
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At the time, Fitchburg police speculated that the shooting may have been drug-related; the Globe report noted that the car was parked in an area “plagued by violence and drugs.” However, police also said they didn’t believe Atwood “was involved in drugs in any way — he was just there and got the worst of it. … They think at this time he was an innocent victim.”
Likewise, Atwood’s mother told the Globe the Ayer teen was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
D’Lucca was charged in connection with the killing in 1993 but wasn’t tried at the time following his arrest on separate murder charges in New York, according to Early. He has since been serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and will be brought back to face the Massachusetts charges at a later date, the DA said.
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It was unclear whether D’Lucca had an attorney who could comment on the new charges.
Massachusetts State Police arrested Calafell, a Gardner resident, following Friday’s indictment. He was arraigned Monday in Worcester Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges and was ordered held without bail. Boston.com has reached out to Calafell’s attorney for comment.
The district attorney’s office encouraged anyone with information about the 1993 shooting or any unresolved murder case to contact the Unresolved Homicide Unit at 508-453-7589 or [email protected].
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